CBGB

Coconut Banana Ginger Bar

I love Blondie. I love Debbie Harry. I wanted to be her. Parallel Lines was my first album. That might be a lie. My first album might be Kenny Rogers, The Gambler. It was one or the other, I think I got them in the same year. But Blondie’s Parallel Lines is way cooler. CBGB’s was a bar in New York where Blondie – and a whole lot of others –  rose to fame (I don’t mean to make it sound as though I were there, I wasn’t). CBGB stands for Country, Blue Grass and Blues. My CBGB stands for Coconut Banana Ginger Bar. I suggest you crank up Sunday Girl or Rip Her to Shreds and blitz together some of these bars. One Way or Another.

Makes 4 – 6 cm x 4 cm bars, or 4 small spheres

15 dates

1/3 cup whole, raw almonds

1/3 cup dried banana chips

1/3 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut, plus more for sprinkling

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

Place dates in a small bowl, and cover with boiling water. Let sit. In the bowl of a food processor dump in almonds, banana chips, coconut, coconut oil, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Drain dates and add those, too. Now buzz everything up for a minute or two. Give the mixture a stir and then pulse on and off until it comes together in a sort of batter. Don’t overdo the processing or you will end up with a greasy mixture. Form into bars or balls and finish with a sprinkling of coconut.

You may or may not be interested to know that I can sing along to every Blondie song. And I also know all the words to The Gambler.